The Darkest Minds: Review

1/3/2016

Title: The Darkest Minds
Author: Alexandra Bracken
Genre: Dystopian, YA fiction, Thriller, Science Fiction
Series: The Darkest Minds, Never Fade, In The Afterlight
My Rating: 5/5
Ages: 13+

Synopsis

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that gets her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that's killed most of America's children, but she and the others have emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

My Thoughts

***Non-spoiler***

THIS BOOK IS AMAZING! I read this not long after I finished the Harry Potter series and found myself looking for a book that could live up to that standards without basically retelling the story, and I found it. The Darkest Minds has the perfect balance of jokes, serious subjects (guilt, disease, power etc) and romance. The characters in this book are very easy to believe and very realistic in the decisions that they make. Although this book is considered to be a "Thriller" I never found myself scared. The main character is perfectly flawed and goes through so much development. If you like books about kids with super powers this is for you. I would recommend this book to anyone who read and liked Harry Potter, Maximum Ride, or Percy Jackson.

***Spoiler***

Ruby: So the story begins with our main protagonist Ruby. When the book begins Ruby is about 16 years old and as the main story progresses Ruby reflects back on her 10 year-old self and the day she was taken to Thurmond. At first I was a bit bored with the flashbacks until my little stupid brain realized that she was going into detail about her "ability" which is basically a super power. One of my favorite aspects of this book was how the made up science behind everything kinda worked and had its own logic. I mean of course it wasn't like actual science but it wasn't like other books where the characters have powers/magic. I have read allot of books where its just like BAM YOU NOW HAVE SUPER POWERS BECAUSE I SAID SO. The Darkest Minds however made it work, the logic behind it was simple and easy to follow. It was a bit crazy to think that while most of the Oranges were gone a.k.a dead and the rest were complete psychopaths Ruby still was able to keep her humanity.

Liam: Then we had Liam a.k.a perfection. I LOVED the Rubiam moments in this book and also that their relationship was very slow to start. And again it worked. Probably my favorite thing about Liam was how he treated Zu. He was so protective and supportive. He could have let her die or traded her to a tribe of yellows or just dropped her on the side of the rode. Zu couldn't even use her ability's without something major and usually negative happening and he was still her biggest fan! And then Ruby shows up just after a CAR CHASE and Liam is just like "what do you mean we can't keep her!"

Chubs: Next is Chubs who honestly had me laughing almost the entire book. At first I was SURE he was a green and then he turned out to be a blue... It took me a while to warm up to Chubs but eventually he became one of my favorite characters mainly because he made me laugh so much. Chubs was also extremely protective of Zu and then later of Ruby which made me so happy. It was so great to see Ruby have friends after so long at Thurmond. I feel like of all the characters in this book Ruby is the most like Chubs. They basically mirrored each others behavior throughout the ENTIRE BOOK!

Zu: And we can't leave out Zu! Zu was as adorable as she was sassy. At first I just really wanted her to talk so there would be more dialogue, but after about a chapter I completely forgot about this and just laughed as she silently sassed Ruby. I was absolutely heartbroken by her backstory, and even more inspired by how she dealt with it. My favorite Zu scene was when the gang went to Walmart and Ruby picked out pink gloves for Zu. It was so sweet!

Clancy: Evil has taken a new form! I hated Clancy Grey, while his character was written in perfectly I HATED HIM. I mean at first I was neutral 'cause he didn't seem like a bad guy just kinda lonely. Plus he was teaching Ruby all these cool things so I was cool with it. But then he crossed the line. THERE ARE NOT WORDS FOR HOW MAD I WAS. I was so glad when they finally got away from him but a little disjointed that he didn't die.

Official Book Trailer

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